Arms industry 'deeply entrenched' in UK government, CAAT report says

The arms industry plays a major role in influencing UK government policy with a "revolving door" system between high ranking former military officers and arms and security companies, according to a campaign group.

A new report by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) and the World Peace Foundation has claimed that defence companies have regular access to senior government figures, including a "dedicated arms export promotion agency" in the business department.

The report sounds the alarm over the arms industry's apparent influence on government policy through close employee ties and how "the lines between the two have been virtually erased".

It highlights the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) "broken procurement system", relating to its process of establishing business contacts that are often orchestrated by former army officers now working at defence firms and "a lax arms export control regime".

The British government’s arms licencing has recently come under scrutiny for its sales to Israel, considering its brutal military campaign in Gaza. The Israeli military has been accused of committing war crimes against Palestinians, including genocide, by international bodies and rights groups.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy this month announced the suspension of 30 licenses to Israel from a total of 350 over concerns that such military exports could be used by Israel in breach of international humanitarian law.

CAAT’s analysis found that "over 40 percent of top-ranked military officers and civilian MOD personnel took roles in the arms and security industry" with many of those working in positions responsible for procurement.

Former British army officers and others holding lower ranking MOD positions have moved onto jobs in the arms and security industry, including as board members and independent consultants, the report said.

The revelation highlights the close connections between a government office and defence firms and will spark concern about the potential for conflicts of interest.

It also found that “regular meetings” are held among arms companies, ministers and civil servants. It said that on average between 2009 to 2019 "senior government officials and ministers met with their arms industry counterparts 1.64 times a day".

CAAT's research coordinator and author of the report Sam Perlo-Freeman described it as a "broken system" and called for “radical measures to break the arms industry’s stranglehold on government policy”.

The UK has a large arms and defence sector with some of the world’s top companies having headquarters and factories in the country.

BAE Systems is the UK’s biggest manufacturer and the largest defence contractor in Europe, foremost known for its part in manufacturing F-35 fighter jets, deployed by the Israeli air force.

It also supplies the US defence department, as well as Saudi Arabia. The firm has come under scrutiny in the past for its role in arming the US military and the Saudi military in the latter’s bombing campaign in Yemen.

CAAT’s report found that BAE Systems had “more meetings with ministers, and more with prime ministers, than any other private company”.

The company, as well as other arms firms such as Babcok and Leionardo UK receive as much as 90 percent of their MOD revenue from non-competitive contracts, according to CAAT. These contracts would be facilitated through the department’s procurement system, regularly described as "broken" by parliamentary committees.

The report also found that when the government has come under pressure to review arms export licensing and sales over concerns of human rights violations and attacks on civilians, the government has prioritised exports and “protecting industry profits”.

Defence, aerospace and space sectors contributed £38.2bn to the British economy in 2023 while exports increased 32 percent in the ten years from 2013, according to industry body ADS.